Punjab police busts fake arms license racket in Tarn Taran
Police Recover Fake Arms Licenses, Weapons, and Forged Documents on Laptop
PUNJAB POLICE BUSTS FAKE ARMS LICENSE RACKET RUNNING FROM TARN TARAN SEWA KENDRA; SIX FAKE ARMS LICENSEES AMONG EIGHT HELD
Punjab Police Committed to Eradicating Organized Crime: CM Bhagwant Singh Mann’s Directive
ROLE OF EARMARKED GUN HOUSES ALSO UNDER LENS, SAYS DGP GAURAV YADAV
CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, July 10:
The ongoing drive to eradicate organised crime in the state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann got a major breakthrough after Amritsar Commissioner ate Police has unearthed a Fake Arms Licence Racket with the arrest of its two gang members involved in preparing such licenses and six fake arms license holders, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Wednesday.
The racket was running from Tarn Taran Sewa Kendra at the behest of District Manager identified as Suraj Bhandari, who is on the run.
Tarn Taran Sewa Kendra employee identified
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the arrested gang members include a Tarn Taran Sewa Kendra employee identified as Harpal Singh and a Photostat Shop owner identified as Baljit Singh, who admitted to be the brains behind tampering requisite identity proofs including Aadhar cards and arms license proforma to facilitate preparation of the fake arms licence. Police teams have also recovered a laptop containing details of the various edited documents and online open source softwares used for tampering documents, he added.
“Punjab Police uncovered the racket after arresting Bablu alias Ballu of Anngarh on April 9, 2024, in an attempted murder case. During interrogation, Bablu confessed to possessing a fake weapons license, along with his co-accused Kanwardeep Singh.” “After revelations by accused Ballu, teams from Police Station Gate Hakima, supervised by ADCP Zone-1 Dr. Darpan Ahluwalia and ACP Central Surinder Singh, initiated investigations.
“They discovered that the weapon license had been verified at the Deputy Commissioner’s Office in Tarn Taran but was not officially recorded.” Moreover, criminals with adverse record, originally residents of Amritsar, were utilising facilities at Tarn Taran to make fake licenses, on basis of forged Aadhar Cards, in addition to those belong to Tarn Taran, he added.
fake arms license racket : Police teams are probing the role of earmarked gun houses
DGP Gaurav Yadav, while not ruling out the connivance of Gun Houses, said that Police teams are probing the role of earmarked gun houses, with knowledge of license being fake, selling arms on those, without doing online verification. Further investigations are on, he added.
“Commissioner of Police (CP) Amritsar Ranjit Singh Dhillon disclosed that Punjab Police registered a first information report (FIR) on June 11, 2024. Subsequently, on June 12, 2024, they apprehended five individuals involved in a fake arms license racket. These include Abhay from Sultanwind, falsely listed as residing on Jandiala Road in Tarn Taran; Manpreet from Amritsar, falsely listed as a resident of Tarn Taran; Kanwardeep from Amritsar, falsely listed as residing on Railway Road in Tarn Taran; Rohit from Amritsar, falsely listed as residing in village Kang, Tarn Taran. Additionally, Harinder, a resident of Sadar Tarn Taran, was arrested on July 2, 2024.”
Police teams have also recovered six fake arms licenses
He said that Police teams have also recovered six fake arms licenses and tampered Aadhar cards, and seven weapons— including four .32 bore pistols, two .32 bore revolvers and one double barrel rifle— from their possession.
The CP stated that kingpin Suraj Bhandari charged Rs 1.5 lakh per client for preparing the Arms License. Of this amount, accused Photostat shop owner Baljit received a commission of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000, while Sewa Kendra employee Harpal received Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. They used to append QR Codes, holograms, stamps and digital signatures, he said, while adding that Police teams are on manhunt to nab accused Suraj Bhandari.
“Police Station Gate Hakima in Amritsar registered FIR no. 101 dated 11/6/24 under sections 417, 420, 177, 465, 467, 469, 471, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
